


Respite Lies Ahead

by pocket_infinity



Series: Flame & Frost, Heart & Soul [4]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25759204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocket_infinity/pseuds/pocket_infinity
Summary: Grimm had gone off to talk with his sister a couple days ago, only to return unconscious and beaten halfway to death. As far as the recovery goes, there's about a zero percent chance that The Pale King is going to leave his bedside for its duration.
Relationships: Grimm/The Pale King (Hollow Knight), The Pale King/White Lady (Hollow Knight)
Series: Flame & Frost, Heart & Soul [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857532
Comments: 3
Kudos: 56





	Respite Lies Ahead

The Pale King stayed in his seat next to the bed, gently grasping his lover’s hand in all four of his own, red dreamcatchers floating around the air above the bed. His head was tilted down, resting upon the total of five hands, and his leg bounced up and down over and over again, refusing to stop even if he were to try. He pulled in a shaky breath before letting it out again, his heart unsteady and shaking as the same familiar feelings returned again; at that point he could have set his watch by them. The same tug pulled at him, the tug of anxiety and fear, of the thought that he might never get to say goodbye, of the worry that he might be stuck here forever, grasping at a hope that would never be true, and, most of all, the possibility that he would be left unwhole again. He squeezed his eyes tight and just held tighter. The door clicked open, the sound of gentle footsteps growing closer appearing immediately after, accompanied by the slight dragging of robes along the floor. The wyrm didn’t move; he already knew everything he needed to without even glancing up.

“My wyrm…” his wife’s voice echoed, “you need to rest-”

“No.” He picked his head up, his eyes snapping open into a scowl.

“Wyrm,” she said much more firmly.

“Root,” he replied coldly.

“You know this isn’t healthy. He wouldn’t want you-”

“Don’t even  _ dare _ to suppose what he would or wouldn’t want if he was awake right now,” the Pale King snapped before letting out a sigh, his eyes weighing heavy. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you’re hurting, my wyrm,” the White Lady said, wrapping an arm around him. “I know that things are hard for you right now, but you  _ must _ take care of yourself.”

“I am  _ fine _ ,” the wyrm said.

“Hardly,” the root retorted. “You haven’t slept in three days, have hardly had any food or water, and have been completely unresponsive to anyone but myself and the occasional retainer.”

“...He wouldn’t be here if not for me,” the wyrm said quietly.

“That is the seventh time you’ve said that in three days, wyrm,” the White Lady said. “You need to understand that you did not do anything wrong.”

“No, I’m  _ aware _ of that already, dearest, but I hold partial responsibility, still, so it  _ would be wrong _ for me to leave before he wakes up,” the wyrm said, looking at Grimm’s face, the visage half-covered in bandages.

“It wouldn’t be wrong,” the root said softly.

“Would you be saying that if it was me in that bed?” The wyrm asked, glaring at the root.

Her eyes darted away as a response.

“Exactly,” the Pale King said. “And if you were in his situation…” he said, looking back at Grimm, “I know that I’d have even less of a choice than I do now.”

“I know, dear,” she replied. “But you still need to take care of yourself at least a  _ little _ bit.”

“I-”

“I’m not saying you need to go get a full night of sleep; I know nobody could convince you if they tried,” she continued. “But at least  _ eat _ something, at least  _ drink _ something, write  _ one _ letter to Lurien or someone to say that you’re alive. You can do all of those from here, so you’re going to do at least two.”

“...Fine,” the King sighed. “I’ll get some salad and water when the next retainer comes by.”

“I’m not going to let you wait for that,” she said, removing her arm and planting a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be back soon, okay?” She asked, rising and moving towards the door.

“Dear?” The King asked from his seat.

“Yes?” The root responded.

“When he wakes up…  _ if _ he wakes up, we’re going after her, right?”

“Without doubt and without relent,” the White Lady replied, her voice harder than steel. “And he  _ will _ wake up, dear. I know it.”

“Thank you,” the wyrm replied quietly.

“Of course,” she replied with a nod before disappearing around the corner.

The Pale King sighed, turning back towards Grimm. He let all but one hand fall away before beginning to gently rub the back of Grimm’s hand with his thumb. His vision slowly began to unfocus as he continued to stare at Grimm’s hand, his claw running the same motion over it again and again. He let his senses go numb as his mind drifted into its own little abyss where he didn’t have to think about anything at all. Total nothing. A place where seconds, hours, and days were the same, and he could wait there as long as he needed, if left undisturbed.

Grimm’s hand twitched, immediately snapping the King back to his normal reality. It was nothing big, but it was  _ there _ . It was  _ something _ .

“Grimm?” The wyrm asked quietly, getting up and leaning onto the bed. “Grimm, darling, can you hear me?” He paused before whispering, “Please?”

There was no response.

“I don’t know if you can hear me in there, Grimm, but… for the millionth time, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let it come to this,” The King said, pulling away before retreating back into that familiar nothing in his mind.

Three days… he’d spent three whole days, most of it simply used as hours in nothing—not  _ of _ nothing, though they were that, too, but  _ in _ nothing. No memories, no thoughts, no ideas, just… nothing. If Grimm were awake and tried to peek into his head, what would he even find? Would it just be a void? Dead, empty, silent… a place simply waiting to hold something… 

Grimm’s hand twitched again, and the Pale King grasped it tighter, bending his neck to rest his forehead upon the Troupe Master’s hand. Grimm’s neck shifted slightly, and the faint traces of nightmare essence around him began to dissipate. His eyes widened, his grip tightening.

“Grimm?” He whispered. The God of Nightmares’ chest visibly rose with a heavy breath.

“Grimm?” The wyrm repeated.

“I’m- I’m here,” Grimm mumbled in response. The Pale King was up on the bed within the next moment, cradling Grimm’s head.

“Oh good gods, you’re back,” he said, his voice hardly a whisper.

“Did I scare you?” Grimm asked, his whispering voice raspier than usual as a smile crossed his face. “I mean, that is what a nightmare is supposed to do, isn’t it?”

“You’re back…” the King repeated, rubbing his hand along one of Grimm’s horns.

“Oh come now, King, you didn’t need to fret. I wasn’t out for too long,” Grimm replied before rubbing his left hand with his right. “How long were you holding my hand for?”

“Oh- uh,” the King said, turning away. “Sorry, I kind of had to in order to keep healing you. Soul tends to work like that.”

“Excuse me?!” Grimm asked, his left eye, the one not covered by bandages, flicking open. “ _ Soul _ ? King, please tell me you weren’t-”

“I wasn’t going to let you die, Grimm,” the King replied quietly.

“I wouldn’t have died…” Grimm said softly. “How long was I out?”

“Three days,” the King replied, shifting away so that he could look into the familiar glow of Grimm’s good eye.

“Three  _ days _ ?” Grimm asked. “Gods, that’s- and you were- wyrm, oh my gods, how are you still standing after  _ three days _ of just constant healing?”

“It’s not that bad…” the wyrm responded.

“Are you kidding, of-” Grimm cut himself off with a sigh before opening his arms. “Nevermind, let’s just rest together for a bit, alright?”

“I want to Grimm, I really do, but…” He tapped the bandages on Grimm’s chest very lightly.

“Fuck-” Grimm said, wincing at the pain before letting out a heavy sigh and wincing again from the movement. “Point taken.” He brought both of his hands up to rub his face before pulling one back as it touched the bandages on his face. He ran his hand across it for a moment until he found the end of one of the bandages and pinched it between two fingers.

“Wait, wait,” the King said, resting a hand on Grimm’s arm. “It needs to stay on for a bit longer.

“It feels fine, love. Don’t worry,” Grimm replied.

“I’m sure it does, but that doesn’t mean it’s fully healed. There’s nothing I’d like more than to see that beautiful face of yours in its entirety, but it needs to stay covered for a bit longer.”

“Very well,” Grimm said, pulling his arm away with a sigh.

“Thank you,” the Pale King replied.

“Of course, dear,” Grimm replied, going silent for a moment and simply staring at the King with a smile.

“What is it?” The wyrm asked, looking down at himself.

“Even when you’ve gone three days without sleeping, you’re still  _ so _ beautiful,” Grimm replied.

The Pale King blushed. “You and your flattery…” he mumbled.

“King, I know that we can’t cuddle or anything,” Grimm said, “but can I at least steal a kiss?”

The wyrm replied by leaning forward, their lips meeting in a kiss both of them had waited for. Grimm’s hands came up to the sides of the wyrm’s head, and one of the King’s hands gently held Grimm’s left cheek, both of their eyes closing.

“I missed you,” the King said as he pulled away.

“I missed you, too,” Grimm replied. “More than anything else in the waking world, I missed you while I was out. Not a moment passed where you weren’t on my mind.”

The King cocked his head. “You were asleep, though, weren’t you?”

“Ah.” Grimm said. “It’s…”

“Nightmare thing?” The Pale King asked.

“Nightmare thing,” Grimm replied with a nod.

“So you were awake, in a sense?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Grimm replied. “It was mostly its own little isolated pocket, but some things managed to slip through, and wyrm,” Grimm said, turning the wyrm’s head to look at him, “it isn’t your fault.”

“It-”

“Nope, none of that,” Grimm said, placing a finger over the wyrm’s lips. “It was  _ not _ your fault. You said it so, so many times, and it couldn’t be more wrong.”

“But-”

“No. You are not to blame. I let things get heated between her and me,” Grimm said. “I won’t say you were wrong for worrying—in all honesty, I’m a bit glad that you did—but you didn’t do anything bad, so stop blaming yourself.”

The King’s eyes flicked away, his breaths growing heavier. “Grimm, I-” He cut himself off with a sharp breath as tears began to prick the edges of his eyes.

“Hey, hey, love, it’s okay, I’m sorry about-”

“It isn’t that, Grimm, I just…” The wyrm wiped his eyes. “I almost lost you.”

“Shhh shh shh, my dear,” Grimm replied, leaning up and pulling the wyrm into a hug despite the flaring pain. “It’s okay, though. You  _ didn’t _ lose me. I’m right here for you. I’m here.”

“I-I know, but you weren’t for so long, and if you hadn’t-” The wyrm choked on some tears as they finally started to roll down.

“But I  _ did _ , and that’s all that matters, okay?” Grimm said, rubbing his back gently. “I came back.”

The wyrm nodded, holding on to his lover as he cried until he couldn’t any longer.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, pulling out of the hug.

“No need,” Grimm said, smiling as he slowly laid back down before patting the bed beside him. “You should lie down; you need rest.”

“Not until-”

“I’m fine, King, but you’ve been up for three days. It’s time to sleep.”

“But you’re-”

“We don’t need to hug or cuddle or anything at all. Just lie down and rest. You’ve spent far too long doing far too much,” Grimm said, looking the wyrm dead in the eye.

“Fine…” the Pale King said, lying down on his side next to Grimm, continuing to stare into the god’s good eye as he curled up.

“Just rest, King. You deserve it,” Grimm said gently, and the wyrm closed his eyes. “Wait! I’m sorry, but before you sleep,” Grimm said, the wyrm’s eyes snapping open, “I have one question for you.”

“What is it?” The wyrm asked.

“D-do, uh,” Grimm stuttered, a cherry-red blush crossing his face. “This might seem dumb, but would you like to, uh, dance sometime?”

“Grimm,” the Pale King said before closing his eyes, “I would be honored.”

A soft smile crossed Grimm’s face as he let out a sigh, listening to the wyrm’s breathing slow until the King fell asleep.

“Where would I be without you…” Grimm muttered into the silence.

**Author's Note:**

> oops this one took a while because im bad at writing people experiencing pain
> 
> @pocket-infinity on tumblr btw gotta mention that every single time


End file.
